Goggles are commonly used to keep a user's eyes isolated from the surrounding atmosphere. For example, swimming goggles are utilized to protect the eyes from water. Other goggles, such as protective goggles, prevent exposure of the user's eyes to toxins or contaminated material, such as blood or eye irritants. Goggles may also be used to protect the eyes from harmful or undesirable environmental conditions, such as cold or dry air or sand or dust in the air. Goggles may also be used to retain a particular fluid or gas in contact with the user's eyes or face.
Generally speaking, eye goggle designs employ soft, spongy material between the area surrounding a user's eyes and the perimeter of the goggle lens and a head strap to hold the goggles in place against the wearer's face. For example, traditional swimming goggles seal each eyepiece or lens against the face in a water tight manner by the elastic force of a head strap pulling the eyepiece against the face, and suction forces created during the fitting of the goggles onto the user's face, leaving negative pressure inside the eyepiece.
It is well known in the art that these forces create pressure points and a certain amount of discomfort in exchange for a water-tight fit. Greater forces generally impart greater discomfort, but also a more secure fit against leakage.
Traditional, strap-type swimming goggles can slip off of the wearer's face during diving or flip-turns where the wearer is moving at higher velocity through the water than when simply swimming. It would be desirable to have goggles that provide a more secure fit and a low profile to reduce drag and that will remain in place on the user's face. In medical applications, the wearer being an EMT, surgeon or other type of health care provider, would benefit from a disposable, inexpensive eye shield that not only protects the wearer from fluid exposure, but also the patient from possible contamination of sweat dripping from the health care worker onto or into the patient.
Thus, it is desirable to develop a goggle design that provides a substantially water-tight seal for a user's eyes that eliminates or reduces the need for straps or elastic bands or requirements for additional forces to retain the goggles in place over the user's eyes.
It is also desirable to develop a face or eye shield design that provides isolation of a user's eyes or face that eliminates or reduces the need for straps or elastic bands or the requirement for additional forces to retain the face or eye shield in place over the user's face or eyes.